Why the ______ is only one brand making a mini driver?

[Adam C]

I don't get it. How is it we only have a single option when it comes to mini drivers? Does this make sense? Obviously there is a market for them, at least as much as say 64 degree wedges or 9 woods, yet all we get is Taylormade? Can we start a petition to get some other brands to jump into this market segment.

[getitdaily]

Because you an 3 other people want it...

[this_is_golf]

I want one. 

[Trippels]

They're the only one with the marketing power to sell such a niche club in sufficient quantities at profitable margins

[DixieD]

Because they're crap.

[jda]

Because you can buy a used driver from years ago and do the same thing with a new grip.  I was not a huge fan of the Burner drivers that this new TM was based on, but if you get one you can have nearly the same results for $300-400 cheaper.  Some of the Clevelands and Titleist ones were wonderful and probably 90% of what is out today if you get the setup right since they are not adjustable... and you can find the center.

 

This can satisfy nearly anybody who has this inclination.

[Klubster]

I have two TaylorMade 360 Ti drivers.  Reg and stiff that amount to the same thing.  May have been my favorite driver of all time.

[EaglesGolf99]

There's more than 1, you just have to look harder. 

[uglande]

There have been some others -- the Bertha Mini 1.5, the Ping Rapture, etc. But you're right, most companies just do larger-headed 3-woods with low lofts (TSR2+, Ping Stretch, Callaway Diablo and 3 Deep, Cobra Big Tour). 

 

I think the market for this is growing. There's been a lot of interest since the Original One, more with the 300, and still more with Brnr. If that keeps up, other OEMs would be foolish not to join in. 

 

I like the Mini as a second tee option, but there are a lot of golfers whose scores would go down if they put the 45.75 inch-long drivers on the shelf.

[Sean124]

1 hour ago, Adam C said:

Obviously there is a market for them

I assume all of these club companies employ some pretty smart people to research this stuff. Most of them seem to disagree with that statement. 
 

I’ve yet to see a mini driver in the wild, and I play a lot of golf. 

[philly2kuk]

For the same reason my company discontinues certain car care products, yet the odd customer rings up complaining we don’t make it anymore. Once you factor in marketing, inventory, overheads, etc, selling 1000 of something just isn’t worth it.

 

FWIW, I haven’t seen a mini driver in the wild for a while. I only hear about them on here. At my home club they seem to have been a fad that came and went.

Edited June 5, 2023 by philly2kuk

[otto6457]

I would love to try one but I can see the limited use for most golfers.  I assume most players would take out the 3 wood to put the mini-driver in play.  But a lot of players struggle getting  a 3 wood in the air off a good fairway lie, so getting a mini-driver off the deck would be even more difficult for most players.  Carrying two drivers where you only use one of them once or twice a round off the tee, then struggling with it off the fairway when you need a 3 wood might not be the best way to spend quite a bit of money.

 

I seldom hit a 3 wood except off the tee, so a mini-driver might be a good option if I could draw it consistently when I needed to, plus having the extra distance over a 3 wood might be a big bonus at times.  I just don't see a huge advantage for myself, but I'm certainly open to giving one a try to find out if I'm wrong.

 

I know Scott Fawcett of DECADE is a huge mini-driver advocate and some his Tour players are experimenting with them.

[Malc]

Because there's not much of a  fuxxing market for them. In the old days howmany people did you see with a 2 wood.

[phizzy30]

A strong 3 metal pretty much does the same thing and is easier to hit off the tee IMO.  I've seen one member at my CC with a mini driver in his bag.  I've seen quite a few strong 3 metals at my club but they tend to be in the bags of the low cap guys who swing hard. 

[North Butte]

I'd assume there is boatloads of data available to these companies from the period a few years back where everyone in the industry offered at least one if not two "mini-driver" variants. They were hyped to high heaven, quite popular for a year or two and then the whole fad died.

 

The fact you're now hearing crickets in that niche from Callaway, Ping, Titleist, Mizuno (everyone except Taylormade) seems to indicate they don't think there's a market for a couple hundred thousand units to move this year.

 

Another possibility, I suppose, is that the entire product category is deeply silly and unnecessary and only Taylormade has the marketing muscle to sell a bunch of them anyway. I've heard it both ways.

[NHenson815]

As much as I would love this, the other manufacturers would need to confident they could generate enough sales volume at a weird price point to generate enough margin to cover any research and development plus fixed costs (accountant).  That would be a difficult barrier with a competing company who effectively has 100% of current market share on that product type at this point (assuming they would continue to produce new models - they could decide not to).  The typical customer is going to look at the price tag and conclude they would rather pay a little bit more for a new full size driver, when there is a good chance the lower priced product might actually be more effective.  That’s not how marketing works though - the bigger longer and more expensive product is assumed to be “better”.  I am by no means a skilled golfer and don’t play more than a couple rounds a year, but I am an equipment junkie, so I buy pretty much everything which seems like it might be unique or niche.  Out of all those products, these mini drivers are the one item I feel should not be niche.  Anyone who says they aren’t any good either hasn’t tried one or doesn’t know what they are talking about.  I average about 1-1.5 standard driver head purchases each year and get my money’s worth hitting balls, but I don’t bother to carry them in the few rounds I do play. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by NHenson815

[rgk5]

5 hours ago, Adam C said:

I don't get it. How is it we only have a single option when it comes to mini drivers? Does this make sense? Obviously there is a market for them, at least as much as say 64 degree wedges or 9 woods, yet all we get is Taylormade? Can we start a petition to get some other brands to jump into this market segment.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by rgk5
Double post

[rgk5]

The previous options were a commercial dud. Why bother?

[BIG STU]

2 hours ago, Malc said:

Because there's not much of a  fuxxing market for them. In the old days howmany people did you see with a 2 wood.

Actually depends where you were. I have 6 persimmon ones in my collection

[BIG STU]

4 hours ago, jda said:

Because you can buy a used driver from years ago and do the same thing with a new grip.  I was not a huge fan of the Burner drivers that this new TM was based on, but if you get one you can have nearly the same results for $300-400 cheaper.  Some of the Clevelands and Titleist ones were wonderful and probably 90% of what is out today if you get the setup right since they are not adjustable... and you can find the center.

 

This can satisfy nearly anybody who has this inclination.

LOL I can go back further than that--- I have around 50 persimmon drivers several with factory graphite shafts. I will admit from the fairway and also the tee they are a little harder to elevate with the modern ball plus I have gotten older and injured and do not have the SS I once had. Off the tee I can hit a persimmon driver about 8 feet high but they roll forever with the modern ball. On a plush fairway I can still hit a 10.5 about chest high. As SOP I only carry 12 clubs anyhow so certain courses for certain holes I slip in one of my graphite shafted persimmons

[North Butte]

I briefly owned a classic set of 1951 Macgregor persimmons and blades a few years back. Could not hit the driver a lick but that steel shafted (130+ gram Dynamic) persimmon 2-wood was the real deal. I could bang a low, running draw out there and on a fairly firm fairway it would go a long, long way.

 

P.S. The less said about me trying to hit those razor sharp leading edge, skinny blade irons the better.

Edited June 4, 2023 by North Butte

[Hickory4ever]

Most people won’t buy one because of the marketing hype of the current 460cc drivers with 45.5 inch shafts. Most people struggle to find the fairway and many would likely do better with a shorter shafted club.

 

@BIG STU and I both hit a lot of the old persimmon clubs and I have always preferred the smaller heads and shorter shafts. I have recently sold my SIM Driver after acquiring a Mini Driver and found it more accurate and almost as long. I just bought the new BRNR 11.5 and will use it for any “modern” rounds. 304cc is plenty big and the 43.75 inch shaft is perfect for my needs and the D3 swing weight is right for me. I bought the 11.5 as I have no intention of hitting it off the fairway.

 

I don’t think they will ever replace the longer shafted variety because of the current marketing of distance by OEMs and they are charging a fortune for them and getting it. For those that favour accuracy, they are worth a look.

[gvogel]

5 hours ago, uglande said:

There have been some others -- the Bertha Mini 1.5, the Ping Rapture, etc. But you're right, most companies just do larger-headed 3-woods with low lofts (TSR2+, Ping Stretch, Callaway Diablo and 3 Deep, Cobra Big Tour). 

 

I think the market for this is growing. There's been a lot of interest since the Original One, more with the 300, and still more with Brnr. If that keeps up, other OEMs would be foolish not to join in. 

 

I like the Mini as a second tee option, but there are a lot of golfers whose scores would go down if they put the 45.75 inch-long drivers on the shelf.

The Ping Rapture is a lovely mini driver.  I have one, it really helped when I was longer on tight holes, and I bring it out from time to time and throw it in a 7 club bag.  Or with my hickories - because I can't hit my hickory driver worth a lick anymore, but I still enjoy playing the irons and niblick.

[mitchie180]

was posted in the JDM section...

 

some sickeningly premium shaft options.

 

to name a few: Ventus TR Blue, Ventus TR Black, Deramax 020, Deramax 07, Attas King, Fire Express RR-B, Fujikura Diamond Speeder, Crazy RD Evo, Mitsubishi Diamana GT, Fujikura Daytona Speeder / LS / X, Fire Express AMBAY... 

if only we had those sort of options available to us...

 

[blades_are_life]

55 minutes ago, mitchie180 said:

was posted in the JDM section...

 

some sickeningly premium shaft options.

 

to name a few: Ventus TR Blue, Ventus TR Black, Deramax 020, Deramax 07, Attas King, Fire Express RR-B, Fujikura Diamond Speeder, Crazy RD Evo, Mitsubishi Diamana GT, Fujikura Daytona Speeder / LS / X, Fire Express AMBAY... 

if only we had those sort of options available to us...

 

🤤

 

so clean

[Chopper Dave]

Where they sit in the market:

Hammer X driver

Uroclub

Mini driver

Double sided chipper

[JungleJimbo]

12 hours ago, Adam C said:

I don't get it. How is it we only have a single option when it comes to mini drivers? Does this make sense? Obviously there is a market for them, at least as much as say 64 degree wedges or 9 woods, yet all we get is Taylormade? Can we start a petition to get some other brands to jump into this market segment.

 

@Adam C Search for "Mini Driver" in these Forums

... will find some similar discussions (examples below) 

 

 

 

Johnny Wunder (now with Callaway) said to me (in a reddit AMA) that the mini-driver was such a niche product, that Callaway didn't believe there is a sufficient market demand & hasn't brought out a replacement?

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[MoeMoe]

14 hours ago, Adam C said:

I don't get it. How is it we only have a single option when it comes to mini drivers? Does this make sense? Obviously there is a market for them, at least as much as say 64 degree wedges or 9 woods, yet all we get is Taylormade? Can we start a petition to get some other brands to jump into this market segment.

Because it's a gimmick. Pros not using them.

[Drivingrangehero]

17 hours ago, jda said:

Because you can buy a used driver from years ago and do the same thing with a new grip.  I was not a huge fan of the Burner drivers that this new TM was based on, but if you get one you can have nearly the same results for $300-400 cheaper.  Some of the Clevelands and Titleist ones were wonderful and probably 90% of what is out today if you get the setup right since they are not adjustable... and you can find the center.

 

This can satisfy nearly anybody who has this inclination.

Absolutely, I used a Japanese model head that was NOS from around 2006 that is 11° and 380cc. It cost me around $37 for the head, I already had a driver shaft, so I had it cut to play 42.5” and added a new grip, and added liquid tungsten to get the head weight from 200g to 225g, the whole thing barely cost more that $60
 

I am better off the tee with a driver than a 3W, so I wanted this to fill my 3W spot and it has exceeded my expectations. 
 

My first choice was to pick up an old Cleveland Launcher 330-400cc head or a Cobra 350-380cc head for nostalgia reasons, but I found that the Japanese market has many great smaller headed drivers that are deep faced and aesthetically pleasing. 
 

Another great option for the sub 460cc head that is very deep faced, aesthetically appealing, adjustable and has a very heavy weight  head to begin with, is an older Model Srixon Z 745 There were a few Tour issue ones that were bonded, but I haven’t seen any bonded ones for some time now. (Japanese market had a Z 945 that is bonded)

 

i have hit the SLDR mini (owned one briefly) the TM OO and the TM 300 mini, I feel that my homemade one is far superior to all three, and at a fraction of the cost. 

[bladehunter]

I agree op.  You can’t buy one of the TM offerings for less than $400 in stock form . $550 or more with a great shaft.  Just try to on eBay.  Cant. 
 

we won’t see it because it’s easier for them to sell you the once every 7 rounds bomb you get with the 46 inch mailbox on a stick. We tend to blame ourselves for the high right OB ball.    The more I play the less I believe that it’s my fault.  I don’t hit that shot with anything else. So ?  Don’t hit it with a mini.  So ?   And I played the mini at 44.5 inches. Not exactly “ short”.